


Silence

by Causa



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-09
Updated: 2018-05-09
Packaged: 2019-05-04 13:10:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14593728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Causa/pseuds/Causa
Summary: “Rose, can we talk? Alone? Please.”“Of course.”—Spoilers for “A Single Pale Rose”





	Silence

“Rose, can we talk? Alone? Please.”

“Of course.”

Rose put her arm around Pearl and the two of them walked into her room in the temple. 

“What’s wrong?” said Rose, taking her hands. 

“I…I feel awful,” said Pearl. “I knew it was going to be bad, but seeing them all like that—“

“It’s heartbreaking, isn’t it? That’s why we’ve just got to find and bubble as many as we can. And I’ll figure something out. This can’t be too different from being cracked, right?” 

Pearl nodded. “I’m sure it’s not, but I feel…If we—“

Pearl felt her insides twisting and her throat constricting as her hands slapped over her mouth. 

“Pearl.” 

“I feel like I’m choking,” Pearl said, her hands lowering. She folded them in her lap. 

“I’m sorry, Pearl,” Rose said, rubbing her back. 

Pearl cleared her throat and looked to the ground. “If…she…hadn’t been…you know,” Pearl said, clasping her hands together forcefully in front of her chest, “then the others wouldn’t have—“

“Oh, Pearl,” said Rose, placing a hand on Pearl’s chin and pressing up. Rose’s eyes were dark and glistening. 

“I don’t want to talk about this,” Rose said. “But please—you have to know that this is their fault. Blue, Yellow, and White—they’re the ones who decided to do this. Not us.”

“But—“

Pearl’s hands flew to her mouth and she shut her eyes. 

“Pearl, there’s nothing else we could have done. Okay?” 

Pearl nodded slowly. 

Rose smiled at her. “Okay. But even if there was, it doesn’t matter now. What we need to do is focus on these gems. We need to poof them and keep them safe. That’s all you can do for them. I’ll be working on a way to fix them. And soon there will be tons of Crystal Gems around here again.” 

Pearl smiled weakly. “Did Garnet tell you that?” 

Rose shook her head. “It’s just something I know. I know we can do this.” 

Rose stood up. “I don’t know about you, but I could use a quick break from all of this. I’m going to go spend some time with those humans by the beach—do you want to come?” 

Pearl shook her head, and when the door closed behind Rose she tucked her head into her chest. Sometime later she emerged, wiping her eyes, and she saw Garnet standing before her. 

“Hi,” Pearl said quietly. 

“Hey.” 

“This all sure is something, isn’t it?” 

Garnet nodded, frowning. “I should’ve seen it coming.” 

“There’s no way you could have,” said Pearl. 

“It still feels wrong to be here right now.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“We’re still here, but everyone else isn’t.” 

“Well, they still are. They’re just—“ Pearl stopped and sighed. “Rose said we should just focus on what we can do now. She’s working on a way to help them.” 

“I just wish the others had been closer to her. I could’ve grabbed some of them. It all happened so fast.” 

“I know,” said Pearl, looking down. “You don’t have anything to feel bad about, Garnet. If anyone does—“ 

Pearl felt her lips quiver as her hand flung itself onto her mouth. 

“Are you alright?” 

Pearl nodded. Garnet put a hand on her shoulder. 

“You’re shaking,” she said. 

“I’m fine. There’s just a lot that I…don’t want to talk about,” Pearl said. “But that’s fine! We don’t need to talk about that anyways. We just need to focus on the gems! We just need to find them and keep them safe, and then Rose will heal them, just like she’s healed us.” 

“Where is Rose?”

“On the beach, with the humans,” Pearl said, frowning. 

“I’m going back to look for more of them,” said Garnet. “Do you want to come?” 

Pearl nodded emphatically, and the two left the temple.


End file.
